Setting A Record

Shuttle Mission Quietly Goes About A Lengthy Agenda

July 07, 1992

Most of us bound to Earth by gravity and our own preference for keeping our feet on the ground probably would consider one description of the latest space shuttle mission - "an extended camp-out trip" - as a bit understated, to say the least. But that's how astronaut Carl Meade characterized the current mission of the shuttle Columbia. The fact that the mission, which is scheduled to end Wednesday, has set a record as the longest space shuttle flight makes Meade's low-key attitude all the more interesting.

While many Americans were noisily celebrating the Fourth of July, the seven astronauts aboard the Columbia were doing laps around the Earth. They did their 174th on Monday, during which they set the record. They have also been doing a variety of experiments, including studying the effects of weightlessness on astronauts. There has been nothing so exciting as the previous shuttle mission's satellite rescue, but success can be significant without being dramatic.

The crew has also done more than the usual number of media broadcasts, perhaps a recognition on the part of NASA that if appearing on television news and talk programs is good for the popularity of presidential candidates, it can be good for the space agency's budget, too. And frankly, a little air time for the astronauts comes as a welcome relief from all the political campaigning.

The nation's space program seems to zoom in and out of the spotlight. Times of trial, triumph and tragedy get all the attention, while the useful business of conducting science goes largely unobserved and unappreciated by the public during the usually uneventful missions. NASA should take a tip from Ross Perot and keep those talk shows booked up.